Facebook testing dark mode for Messenger

Over the past few months, Facebook has been experimenting with Messenger’s user interface to make it livelier and to gain more users. Now according to a popular social media app expert Jane Manchun Wong, the company is testing a dark mode to supplement the white design.

“Facebook Messenger, seemingly due to prolonged external nagging, has started public testing Dark Mode in certain countries. They have put up a fair warning that Dark Mode isn't everywhere yet so don't complain when some UI burns your eyes off,” tweeted Wong.

While the list of countries is still not known, but according to Wong, if you are in a supported country, a new "Dark Mode" setting should appear in the "Me" section of the app. A warning that reads the new dark mode is still a work in progress will also appear.

Based on the screenshot provided by Wong, the dark mode looks like you'd probably expect, replacing all the stark and bright white backgrounds with black, and inverting text from black to white to match. The search bar and some other rounded UI elements remain grey, but darker.

In August of 2018, Facebook rolled out a new, simplified version of Messenger: Messenger 4. The new Messenger will have three tabs instead of nine. Your conversations — both one-to-one and groups — are front and centre in the Chats tab.

For hundreds of millions of people every day who share pictures and videos, Messenger 4 will have visual communication features like Camera at the top so you can easily capture and share your selfies.

Once you tap into Messenger 4’s People tab, you can find friends, catch up on people’s Stories, and see everyone who is active right now. Then you have the Discover tab, where you can connect with businesses to get the latest deals, play Instant Games, book your next vacation, follow the news and more.

You can see the colours change from red to blue, for example, as you scroll up and down a conversation. Colour gradients can be changed any time to reflect your mood or topic of conversation.